The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission Uses ACS Data to Connect Central Ohio’s Communities Through Greenways
The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission Uses ACS Data to Connect Central Ohio’s Communities Through Greenways
Melinda Vonstein, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission
Data Story
The Central Ohio Greenways (COG) trail system provides a bicycling and pedestrian network to the Central Ohio region used for both transportation and recreation, but unequal access to the trails meant that many residents were unable to connect with job centers, neighborhoods, and cultural destinations across the region.
To close this access gap, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) conducted the Regional Trail Vision Prioritization, a comprehensive review which included an analysis of surrounding communities. This review used the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), among other datasets, to assess the COG trail system across four domains: connectivity, health and environment, social equity, and economic development.
Outcomes
The focus area of Franklin County, Ohio provided several key insights that guided the direction of the trail building and expansion. At the time of review, 120 miles of COG trails already existed in the area with 14% of the population able to access a trail within a half mile of their home and 24% of job locations falling in the same radius.
The proposal added 176 miles of regional trails to Franklin County, more than doubling the existing trailway system and increasing access to 40% of the population and 41% of jobs.
ACS data were critical in measuring poverty, unemployment, race, disability, total population, and households with no cars. Together, these variables were used to measure the areas with the highest score for social equity—one of the four critical domains that were assessed for prioritization. 466 neighborhoods were identified in Franklin County that experienced a higher rate of poverty and at the time of the review, 40% of the neighborhoods were connected to a COG trail. The proposal called for improvements that would increase that access to 59% of neighborhoods.
The review helped shape the priorities of each project. Today, nine out of the top ten highest priority trail segment projects have advanced in the region, and MORPC allocated $53 million to complete them by 2028. These projects are either in design, in construction, or have funding applications out. The regional partners who worked alongside MORPC and others took the prioritization and recognized the projects that needed to be built and helped seek funding to make them happen. This was a bold vision and has been met with a bold application within these five years, supporting the overall goal to provide a trail network that can serve as a backbone to the Central Ohio region.
Location
Franklin County, Ohio
ACS Topics Used
Poverty, employment status, race, disability status, total population, vehicles available